Kevin Gorman Columns category, Page 12
Kevin Gorman: Mitch Keller’s next start should be for Pirates
This is a complicated time for the Pittsburgh Pirates and their pitching staff, with top starters Jameson Taillon and Trevor Williams on the injured list. So I’ll make this simple. It’s time for Mitch Keller to make his major league debut. Keller isn’t just the top prospect in the organization...
Kevin Gorman: Steelers should be setting new tone at rookie minicampVideo
This apparently wasn’t the time or place to talk about the Pittsburgh Steelers and their problems of the past year, not with dozens of players being introduced to the organization at rookie minicamp at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. I asked Mike Tomlin anyway. The Steelers, after all, missed the playoffs...
Kevin Gorman’s Take 5: Steelers play numbers, name games at rookie minicampVideo
For the first day of Steelers rookie minicamp, all eyes were on No. 55 – and Devin Bush was enjoying every moment. “It was fun, just being out there and getting back in football mode and learning plays and being around different guys,” said Bush, the inside linebacker from Michigan...
Kevin Gorman: Devin Bush shows off by calling shots at Steelers rookie minicampVideo
Devin Bush knew Ryan Shazier was watching, but the player the Pittsburgh Steelers traded up 10 spots to select with their first pick in the NFL Draft wasn’t looking over his shoulder. The Steelers are hoping their search to fill the void at inside linebacker since Shazier was lost to...
Kevin Gorman: Tyler Glasnow’s fast start puts pressure on PiratesVideo
The word conviction repeatedly was referenced by the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday when talking about pitching, and especially when talking about trading pitchers. Tyler Glasnow lacked it. Chris Archer possessed it and Neal Huntington used it to make a trade-deadline deal that was celebrated last July and now is being...
Kevin Gorman’s Take 5: UPMC Events Center at RMU shines in spotlightVideo
One of my all-time favorite basketball memories happened at Robert Morris University’s Sewall Center. And it has nothing to do with Kentucky. You had to be there to believe it. RMU was the host site every summer for the Five-Star Basketball Camp, and word got out that camp director Howard...
Kevin Gorman: Trading Evgeni Malkin would only cause Penguins more problems
If the Pittsburgh Penguins seriously are considering a trade of Evgeni Malkin, they seriously should reconsider. It’s that absurd of an idea. Trading Malkin would be an emotional overreaction to a stunning sweep by the New York Islanders in the Stanley Cup playoffs and a foolhardy attempt at addition by...
Kevin Gorman: Now that the NFL Draft is over, who runs the AFC North?
The NFL Draft saw the Pittsburgh Steelers make a leap of faith at linebacker, the Baltimore Ravens strengthen their skill positions, the Cleveland Browns pick a kicker and the Cincinnati Bengals bolster their offensive line. Who will be the king in the AFC North? The Browns made the boldest pre-draft...
Kevin Gorman: After top pick, Steelers played it too safe with draft choices
The contrast of the two words repeated often by the Pittsburgh Steelers about the NFL Draft — comfortable and competition — represented the conflict of an organization at a crossroads. They found no comfort in missing the playoffs last season, so the Steelers sent a message by creating competition with...
Kevin Gorman: Benny Snell fits the mold of Steelers running back, almost to a fault
The Pittsburgh Steelers are making a habit of drafting players of pedigree from football families. Their fourth-round pick, running back Benny Snell of Kentucky, certainly fits that mold. Snell has strong bloodlines. His father, Benjamin Sr., was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in 1998. His great uncle, Matt, ran for...
Kevin Gorman: Steelers get a playmaker at wide receiver, but AFC North gets Greedy
On the first day of the NFL Draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers got greedy and traded up 10 spots to take coveted inside linebacker Devin Bush with the No. 10 pick. On the second day, the Cleveland Browns got Greedy. Once regarded as a top-10 pick, LSU cornerback Greedy Williams slipped...
Kevin Gorman’s Take 5: Steelers sit out second round, chase character with WR, CB
When Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin told receivers coach Darryl Drake to watch video of Diontae Johnson, it didn’t take long for the Toledo wide receiver to show why. Watching Johnson proved Tomlin’s point. But Drake wanted to see Johnson up close and personal. “It was important to me what...
Kevin Gorman: Devin Bush makes no secret of his ‘super loyalty’ to SteelersVideo
The knock on Devin Bush, if there was one, is that he was viewed as undersized at inside linebacker. That was before the 5-foot-11, 225-pounder from Michigan was timed at 4.43 seconds in the 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine. The same once was said of Ryan Shazier, who also...
Kevin Gorman: Day 1 of NFL Draft puts premium on playmakers in AFC North
The Pittsburgh Steelers didn’t just get their target when they traded up in the NFL Draft to select Michigan inside linebacker Devin Bush in the first round. They made a splash by leapfrogging the Cincinnati Bengals to do it. The AFC North rivals both needed to address that position, but...
Kevin Gorman: In Devin Bush, Steelers draft for present, not future
The Pittsburgh Steelers went for broke by trading up 10 spots to draft Devin Bush, a pick that has boom-or-bust potential and one they are hoping leads them to another Lombardi Trophy. The Steelers decided that the reward outweighed the risk, as they know there’s no chance for a championship...
Kevin Gorman’s Take 5: Ben Roethlisberger in charge with Steelers
These are Ben Roethlisberger’s Pittsburgh Steelers. And don’t you forget it. On the eve of the NFL Draft — and the 15th anniversary of his first-round selection — Roethlisberger signed a three-year contract through 2021 that should allow him to achieve his goal of spending his entire career with the...
Kevin Gorman: Pirates pitcher Nick Burdi’s injury was just crushing to watch
Nick Burdi threw the pitch, doubled over in pain and dropped to a knee. When the Pittsburgh Pirates reliever clutched his right biceps in anguish, you knew it was awful. Video of the Nick Burdi injury pic.twitter.com/GFxnDL3rO7— zach (@zachleft) April 23, 2019 It was absolutely crushing to watch, especially when...
Kevin Gorman: Steelers can’t afford any more mistakes in first 3 roundsVideo
Kevin Colbert is on the clock, and the Pittsburgh Steelers general manager spoke Monday like a man who has both time and history on his side. Colbert promised to practice patience, preaching the philosophy that the Steelers will “always believe in building through the draft and enhancing it through free...
Kevin Gorman: Cole Tucker captures Pittsburgh’s heart, just when Pirates needed it
Hearts dropped when Starling Marte and Erik Gonzalez collided at full speed Friday night at PNC Park, a play that left both players injured and the Pittsburgh Pirates seriously short-handed. Their corresponding move had Cole Tucker’s chest pounding Saturday as the shortstop was ecstatic about joining outfielder Bryan Reynolds in...
Kevin Gorman’s Take 5: Pirates beat Giants but endure more losses
The Pittsburgh Pirates returned to PNC Park on Friday with the best winning percentage in the National League, despite what looked like a Grapefruit League lineup because of injuries. The San Francisco Giants countered with Madison Bumgarner, who was so dominant here in the 2014 NL wild card that the...
Kevin Gorman: After playoff sweep, Mike Sullivan must hold Penguins accountableVideo
Fresh off being swept out of the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday presented a united front that indicates changes are coming. Not a coaching change, of course. Where Penguins players remain committed to keeping their core together, general manager Jim Rutherford and coach...
Kevin Gorman: Penguins better make changes out of design, not disappointment
The Pittsburgh Penguins should be forewarned there is danger in disappointment, even more in running out of patience. It wasn’t just fans who sounded dangerously close to losing theirs with the disappointing way the Penguins played in a first-round sweep by the New York Islanders in the Stanley Cup playoffs....
Kevin Gorman: Islanders’ sweep provides painful ending for PenguinsVideo
It was a sorry scene, seeing the Pittsburgh Penguins skate off their home ice Tuesday night after being swept by the New York Islanders in this Stanley Cup playoffs first-round series. Don’t blame the Penguins for being in a state of disbelief after being swept into a perfect storm. Only...
Playoffs by period: Penguins couldn’t solve Islanders’ strategy or avoid a sweep
THIRD PERIOD: Islanders 3, Penguins 1 The strategy for the New York Islanders is simple: Sit back and wait for the opponent to make mistakes. The Penguins were all too happy to comply. That made their Stanley Cup playoffs first-round series a bad matchup for the Penguins, despite the two...
Kevin Gorman: Not even Sidney Crosby can save the Penguins this timeVideo
The Pittsburgh Penguins had just missed a golden goal-scoring opportunity Sunday when the television camera zoomed in on Sidney Crosby chewing on his mouthpiece on the bench. That was supposed to be a sign of Sid’s frustration. Or it could have been just a bad habit that was magnified in...
